

If you want to use a gamepad to fly a plane with arcade-style controls, you can do this with ease, but if you are a hardcore flight sim enthusiast, you are also extremely well-catered for. What I particularly love about this version of Microsoft Flight Simulator is that it caters to the entire range of players. VR controller support is still average at best, and there is no support for hand tracking, which would be a fantastic addition to have in a future update.

The VR implementation isn’t without bugs, but I have seen things improve steadily since it was initially released. I absolutely love tinkering around with the different weather settings, challenging myself to make difficult landings in adverse weather conditions, or picking a clear, sunny day to enjoy the sights of some incredible landmarks and cities. You can completely customize the weather and choose what time of day to fly at, creating conditions that are as challenging as you like. Microsoft Flight Simulator has now implemented full VR support, which works well on every headset I have tried it with, although you are highly likely to need to turn down some graphics settings to keep the framerate at a playable level. It uses real-world map data, photogrammetry, and satellite imagery to allow you to fly anywhere in the world, and the number of hand-crafted airports, aircraft, and landmarks continues to increase with every update.

It is visually stunning, and the attention to detail in the planes, flight models, and the scenery is incredible.

The most recent edition of Microsoft Flight Simulator was released in 2020 by Asobo Studio and is one of the most impressive flight simulators I have ever played. Microsoft Flight Simulator (Credit: Asobo Studio)
